And then to BB&Beyond to stock up on toiletries. In an effort to 1) go more natural and 2) enjoy the horrid process of showering a bit more, I splurged on my new favorite brand: Alba. I purchased this Sea Mineral Cleansing Gel back in April and absolutely LOVEEEEEE the smell!!! Every single day I enjoy the scent, and I figure that is well worth the $7 or so for the bottle that lasts me a quarter of a year. I also bought a new shampoo of theirs today because it smells just like a pina colada! [I recently bought one of Whole Foods’ brand shampoos and hated it with a passion – no suds, dirty hair] Lastly, I did try Alba’s Vanilla Aloe face sunscreen, but it was too greasy for everyday-under-makeup wear, so I defaulted back to my favorite one: Aveeno Face. I wear this daily in the summer under make up and it’s not greasy at all.

ALSO in my basket – my favorite dish scrubbie and favorite toothpaste! [I also tried TOM’s toothpaste last month and didn’t hate it but also didn’t like much about it either. Love the company, but not the flavor..]

Another impulse buy: an electronic mosquito repellant. I don’t really like the thought of eating dinner inside in the summer, bug bites on my legs, OR having to put chemicals on my body before dinner every day. I thought I’d give this a try. Two employees said it worked.

The result: When normally I would be attacked by mosquitos, I only left dinner with 2 bites. I give it a B-. Going to try it one more dinner before deciding if I should return it or not. Also bought EcoLife Organic bug repellant – hopefully that works!

I poked my head into LOFT to see if they had replenished their size-that-must-not-be-named shorts. No luck 🙁

Poked into Banana too but just left with a squirt of perfume.

I went back to work and wrapped up another smashing day of sales!!! Biked home in the heat to find Karen on our porch ready to make dinner!

On Thursday another delivery from the Copper River salmon marketing association. Wild Alaskan salmon is my favorite fish (no offense sardines!) and I was thrilled to receive these fish to help create excitement about the Copper River season. I would love to travel to Alaska someday! Last month they sent King salmon, which is in season in the spring, and Sockeye rules the summer season. In the past I have struggled to find the type of salmon I like the best. Sockeye is tougher, and I’ve had it frozen a handful of times where it was so tough it was almost rubbery – despite being barely cooked. I had no idea how this version would taste, but I was prepared for toughness.

But much to my surprise, it was fantastic!! Crusty on the outside, perfectly cooked on the inside. And while it didn’t taste quite as fatty as King, it wasn’t the least bit tough. Go Sockeye!

Oven-Finished Salt-Kissed Salmon

Preheat oven to 425*

The result was utter perfection. Part of that must be the fish, and the other part is that we have mastered salmon cooking technique!

Rub fish with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt (like really generously! I used a black truffle salt from Foodzie) and black pepper

That salmon is cooked to perfection. Not overdone which is what most people tend to do I think and also the corn and other veggies..nice.

Love the donuts and cookies too 🙂

And Alba, yes, great stuff; smells great and WORKS. Nothing like natural cleaning products or bath/shower products that don’t work, i.e. dirty hair or grimy showers. I am all about natural but they have to WORK. I have posted about this before. I feel un-green buying conventional on certain things but it’s b/c I dont love the natural products ive tried. But I loooove Alba!

Tom’s has been acquired by Colgate. My husband can’t stand minty toothpaste, and used to be able to use Tom’s. All the non-mint flavors (except bubble gum for kids – yuck) have been discontinued. Booo.

What a perfect summer meal! Makes me hungry just looking at it. 🙂 I absolutely adore salmon. My husband often drizzles a little balsamic glaze on it when he makes it – gives it a little tangy-sweetness. Yum!

1. I am also that person who steals a hunk of donut (so much so that when coworkers bring in donuts and see a hunk missing, they no longer ask who it was. They just accept that “that guy” is always, always me).

2. Have you tried the Loft website for the shorts? I’ve had great success with that! You could also have someone at your store call in and order a pair from a neighboring store. Just a thought!

I’ve always wondered…(as I daydream about having my own GH bakery one day)….do you have to ring up any of the bread, muffins, or cookies that you want to eat personally? In other words- obviously you are the owners, so you get whatever you want, but are they removed out of inventory? I can’t own a bakery…..I’d weigh 300 pounds!! 🙂

You’d actually be suprised. I was in a chocolate making class at my university last quarter, where I am around chocolate for 6 hours and after awhile you get used to it. Of course, I would be eating more chocolate that day, but once you get exposed to something so much, it’s easier to turn it down. Although, I do think that a bakery would be more tempting with all the different varieties and I like baked goods a little better than chocolate..maybe equally?

We’re trying to ring them up for accountability, but we don’t have to pay for them as the owners. And since we have a whole sample board, we can take from that whenever we wish! I’m good at taking tiny pieces, but I’m bad with the frequency of that!

Haha me and my sisters loved singing the cookie jar song, and still do when there are none left!! The things I learned from Barney the dinosaur haha 🙂 And I definetly agree, olive oil makes life wayyyy better.

I love this! I didn’t mind the use of sizes to illustrate the difference in clothing! I struggle with this myself! Now, If you wrote that you were 5’3 wearing a size 10, you would have probably lost quite a few readers of your healthy living/eating blog! People need to chill!

KY, I adore you, and I read your site 2-3 times per day. But what’s the deal?! Why do you act weird about posting your size?! You mentioned it before, then you got weird about posting your shirt size as being a small, etc, with the work shirts. Girl, if you don’t wanna post it, ok! You work hard for your body and you eat right and help us all believe in a great diet and taking care of ourselves, so I guess I just don’t get this weird size issue you have going?!

I am in Alaska right now. The reds are great! People up here don’t call them sockeye. They are also super cheap in comparison to king salmon. I live in Portland, OR during the school year and I can get fresh salmon at the farmer’s market there but its way more expensive than the king here in Alaska. Here all the salmon is an insane deal and I have been eating a a lot of halibut which is super fresh but not as great of a deal. The produce leaves something to be desired but the fish is phenomenal here. I will be happy to get back to a place where I can get my fruits and veg locally and possibly organic. Neither is really all that common in Anchorage

I actually went to Banana Republic today at the outlet mall in my area and everything was 1/2 off in the store! It had a lot of cute stuff and I bought it for my upcoming trip with my family to Charlotte and Charlottesville (we’re stopping by Great Harvest) :]

haha, oh, I’m totally one of those types too. You’ll often find a full box of cookies with a couple pieces broken off of various cookies. I think it may annoy some people…;) But at least I’m practicing self-control!

I once bought one of those electronic mosquito repellent-thingies too. When I googled it, I learned there is no scientific evidence they actually work. Apparently mosquitos can’t hear that much – the sound of the emr included.

1. I love Alba products! I’ve been making a concerted effort to buy beauty and skin products with less chemicals, and this line is great.
2. Try Tom’s of Maine GEL toothpaste – it’s more akin to Crest/Colgate etc. in terms of consistency and flavor.
3. I absolutely concur that olive oil makes everything taste better :). Dinner looks fantastic! Oh, and melons have been awesome lately. I purchased a Tuscan melon from Trader Joe’s, and it was the sweetest melon I’ve ever had!

Oh, I love Alba…their body butter is indulgence in a jar, completely worth the $10. And, I also use that exact Aveeno sun protection for the face. Unlike every other sunscreen – from drugstore to pricey private dermatologist brands – it does not cause me to break out.

Oh my goodness. I tried the Whole Foods shampoo one time too. Their brand. I was super excited to get some great smelling, organic shampoo for such a low price. Then I used it, and I let my hair air dry. When I was sitting at work that day I put my hand in my hair and it was disgusting. It felt like I had not even washed it.

This might sound strange- but if you spray slightly watered down mint mouth wash in the outside area that you plan to be the mosquitoes will stay away. We have a huge problem with the little nuisances in Texas where I live and someone told me to try this– and it worked! I love it because it doesn’t smell like the nasty chemical repellants.

I dominated at Banana Republic yesterday! The outlet ones have 50% off this weekend. I hit up AT Loft for the first time, too and discovered out nicely their shorts fit. I was the girl in the dressing room asking for “the smaller” size to avoid saying my size out loud…memories of your discussion of short sizes!

Have you tried Burt’s Bees toothpaste? It’s a million times better than Tom’s.

Gals – I buy mine from The Spice House. It’s local to me, but they accept online orders. I highly recommend them – they grind/and offer the widest selection you’ll ever see and the freshness really makes a huge difference vs. the grocery store variety. They offer hot and mild versions of smoked paprika. (The hot is relatively mild on the pepper-hotness scale.)

Love your blog, Kath! Quick question…when you grill eggplant, do you let it “sweat” first? Or do you just throw it on there? Our garden is producing a lot of eggplants this year and I am trying to master the cooking process. Thanks!!

Hey Kath! I am really craving some delicious corn but I live in manhattan and therefore do not have a grill. What is the second best way to cook corn on the cob?! Do I season it or put anything on it? Thanks 🙂

I found this organic shampoo called ‘sprout out’ by gilcherst and holmes and it is HANDS DOWN the BEST shampoo I have ever used! It makes my hair more soft and shiny than anything else I have ever tried (Including TJ’s brand, herbal essence, Burt’s bees, pantene, etc). Plus it smells great too!

Starting on the stove and finishing it in the oven is my favourite way to make fish. I always get such a buttery texture that way! I’ve had similar problems with sockeye being too tough though, which is why I tend to prefer Atlantic salmon.

You should check the TJMaxx type stores for Alba. I saw Alba at Home Sense (owned by the same company) as well as Kodiak cakes, chia goodness and even all natural doggy biscuits:P I usually just pick up any shampoo/conditioner at that store that is organic or bad stuff free and I pay around 4 bucks for each one which is very cheap for where I live.

One of the best natural remedies against mosquitoes is ouzo, Greek anis-flavoured vodka. Just rub it on your bare legs and arms. Sambuca may work too. Just FYI 😉
We’d do it all the time in Cyprus in the evening when dining out.

I really enjoyed your post on natural cleaning remedies. It was something I thought a lot about doing, but didn’t get off my butt to do anything about until I read your post. Thank you!

As for hair care, I’ve been experimenting with sulfate-free and silicone-free products for about two years now. For shampoo, Giovanni (50/50 and the moisturizing one) work well for me and are reasonably priced at around $8 at Ulta, Target, and Whole Foods. They’ve got some suds and the 50/50 leaves me squeaky clean! I had many misses in the Aubrey line until I found Honeysuckle Rose (around $10). John Masters has nice poo’s, but they have an unreasonable high-end price tag (Honey & Hibiscus is $26!). Keep experimenting. You’ll find something. I’m still searching for the perfect styling product to go 100% silicone-free.

I was just curious. Is your new place almost like ‘one of a kind’ in your area? Or do you have competition? Has the fresher way of eating/lifestyle caught on and do you think that GH will play a huge role in that?

An all-natural alternative to toothpaste is Good-Gums. It doesn’t contain all the chemicals and flouride that toothpaste does, but cleans teeth and gums naturally with herbs and sea salt. I’ve been using it for 9 months and love it, no build-up to scrape off my teeth at the dentist!